Words Unsaid, Feelings Encoded
by bowow0708
Summary: Speed was her semblance, yet she wasn't fast enough to save her. . . Nuts and Dolts, Semi-canon, Follows some scenes from PVP to Beginning of the End, Oneshot
Disclaimer I do not own RWBY

Words Unsaid, Feelings Encoded

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"Ruby, there is something I've been wanting to talk to you about." said Penny as she glanced over at Ciel who kept watch of the number of seconds of the minute of conversation she and Ruby had left. With a secretive smile, Penny finished saying "I want to stay at Beacon."

The moment those words came out of Penny's mouth, for the shortest time Ruby felt a sense of elation in her chest come over her at the idea of Penny staying at Beacon. Despite her short time since arriving at Beacon, she and Penny quickly grew close after Penny had revealed her secret to Ruby. After that they began to spend more and more time with each other as their schedules and Penny's ability to sneak out allowed and she always enjoyed spending time with her. But those feelings of elation were short lived as the reality of their situation immediately came to the forefront of her mind.

"Penny, they'll never let you do that." replied Ruby, worry and despondence filling her voice. As much as she wanted Penny stay at Beacon so that they could always be together, she knew full well that General Ironwood would never let Penny leave the Atlas military for Beacon.

"I know." said Penny, similar thoughts processed through her circuitry, then continued confidently. "But I have a plan."

Ruby's eyes widened. This was something she hadn't expected to hear from her and the elation she had felt in her chest previously returned with greater force. "Really?" she asked.

Penny smiled, "Yes, but I can't tell you what it is right now. I need to finish a few things first."

Ruby had been excited to hear about Penny's plan, but something caused her to frown slightly. "Just don't do anything rash, Penny. I'd hate to see you get hurt."

Penny's smile grew wider and took Ruby's hands into her own. "Don't worry about me Ruby. It takes a lot to do any sort of damage to my body."

Ruby's pulse quickened when Penny took her hand. Despite knowing Penny's true nature, Ruby always enjoyed how soft Penny's skin was and how gentle her hands were when she knew the strength that they held. She also couldn't help but notice how warm they were.

"It's been precisely _one minute_ , Ma'am." said Ciel, butting in to their conversation. Penny quickly let go of Ruby's hands. She hadn't realized that she wasn't paying attention to her internal clock and that she and Ruby had in fact been conversing for one minute.

"I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby." said Penny as she followed behind Ciel towards the booth where the students of Atlas and General Ironwood were staying. Penny quickly turned back to face Ruby once Ciel's back was turned to wave bye to Ruby.

Ruby waved back, her pulse slowly returning to normal as she watched Penny walk away.

Was Penny serious? Did she really have a plan to allow herself to be transferred to Beacon? How was she going to get away with it?

Those questions were supposed to be on Ruby's mind, but she ignored them and instead focused on the lingering warmth on her hands from when Penny held them.

" _ **OUR NEXT MATCH WILL BEGIN IN FIFTEEN MINUTES"**_ Bellowed Prof. Port's voice throughout the stadium, breaking Ruby from her reverie.

Ruby clasped her hands together excitedly, "Oh my gosh! That's right, it's time for–"

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Ruby was running.

Running as fast as she could.

She couldn't understand what was happening.

Why was Mercury here? Why was he attacking her? How did he know that Penny would go up against Pyrrha?

That last question burned in her chest and she could hear Mercury's words echo inside of her head.

 _Ooh. Polarity versus metal. That could be bad._

Ruby's pace grew frantic as she tried to head back to the stands. She had to stop the fight or else something really bad was going to happen like. . . like Yang's fight. It was then that Ruby realized.

It was a set up.

She didn't know to what end, but she needed to get back to the arena as soon as she could.

Ruby's breath came out in short pants. Her heart raced and her lungs burned as she poured all her energy into her legs to run faster and faster. She couldn't even use her semblance, both her mind and heart so clouded with unsure thoughts and conflicting emotions. But throughout the chaos that stormed within her soul there was a single thought that kept repeating.

 _Please, don't be too late._

Ruby rounded the last corner, charging through the door with her shoulder and entered the arena, the small glimmer of hope that they were still only fighting extinguished as she laid her eyes into the ring.

As if in slow motion she watched as Penny was torn to pieces by the near invisible wires of her weapon.

At that moment Ruby's entire world shattered.

Ruby fell to her knees and her vision grew blurry as tears welled in her eyes. All she could do was just sit there, not even able to let out a scream. All she could manage was a weak whispered.

"Penny. . ."

The tears streamed down her face. As the hot streaks staining her face, all the every sound within the stadium slowly tuned out into white noise. Ruby ignored the ache in her legs and the burning in her torso for another kind of pain that blossomed during the scene she had just witnessed.

It felt like someone grabbed her heart with an iron grip and slowly twist it out of her chest. She couldn't breath. She could barely think. At that moment her entire world was the pain in her chest and the dull, lifeless eyes of Penny's corpse in the middle of the stadium.

Ruby completely ignored everyone who ran past her to get out of the stadium, she refused to move despite the number of people bumping into her. Why? Why did it have to be Penny? She was innocent in all this. She would never in a thousand years do anything to deserve this.

It was only when the nevermore shattered the barrier and landed within the arena, the gust of wind from the giant grimm's powerful wings blew Penny's body away snapped Ruby out of shock.

Ruby clenched her teeth and in a sudden burst of speed she dashed forwards, catching Penny's torso in her arms as they both sailed through the air.

Landing in the stands, Ruby carefully cradled Penny's torn upper half as the rest of her body and weapons scattered around them, her tears dripping on Penny's face. Watery silver eyes met unresponsive emerald green. She hugged Penny, burying her face into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Penny." sobbed Ruby. "I'm sorry, I wasn't fast enough to reach you in time."

Ruby pulled away from Penny, wiping away her tears that had fallen on Penny's face and gently pulled Penny's eyes shut.

A deafening screech echoed throughout the stadium caused Ruby to look up and back into the arena. She could see both Jaune and Pyrrha blown back by the giant Nevermore.

Laying down Penny, Ruby wiped away the tears from her face and picked up one of Penny's swords that laid nearby.

As the Nevermore began to prey towards both Jaune and Pyrrha, Ruby cried out in rage and kicked out in a burst of speed aiming right for the Nevermore's chest, her tears flying through the air glinted in the light of the stadium. The sheer impact of Ruby's attack was enough to force back the Nevermore, but she knew that it would take much more than that to take it down.

Kicking off from the Nevermore's chest Ruby landed between it and Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Ruby?" said Pyrrha questioningly.

Ruby could feel an unfamiliar heat rise up within her chest, growing hotter and hotter with each breath she took, like bellows fanning the flames to a forge. There was a pressure that began to fill within her skull it felt overwhelming yet painless, like white hot metal building up inside but caused a cold shiver down her spine. She hurriedly wiped away the tears from her face. She could grieve later, but right now she had a job to do.

 _I will get the person who did this to you, Penny._

 _I promise._

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Ruby and Weiss scoured the grounds as they searched for any sign of Jaune and Pyrrha.

The once beautiful grounds of Beacon were filled with rubble and other signs of battle. Grimm prowled the area freely, most likely searching for their next meal.

They continued their search as fast as they could, slowing down only to kill off any creature of grimm that wandered too close.

Suddenly Weiss' scroll began to ring, pulling it out of her pocket, "It's Jaune!." informed Weiss as she tapped the line open, "Where are you?" she asked.

"Weiss! Please you have to stop her!" yelled Jaune through the scroll.

"What?!"

"Pyrrha!" answered Jaune, "She's going after that woman, at the top of the tower. She doesn't stand a chance!"

They both looked up towards the central tower of Beacon where Ozpin's office once was a feeling of dread filled their chests as the once protective structure now radiating an oppressive aura.

"Jaune what are you talking about? Where are you?" questioned Weiss, neither of them knowing why Jaune was in such a panic.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" he screamed, causing the both of them to flinch back at the volume of his voice through the speaker of Weiss' scroll, then his voice grew quieter, "Please. . . you have to save Pyrrha." The pain was obvious in his voice as if he had already lost all hope.

Weiss looked down at her scroll resolutely, "We will." she told him, then asked, "Are you okay." just to ensure that he wasn't in immediate danger.

Ruby and Weiss both jumped as they heard Jaune yell out before their connection was cut off.

"Jaune?" called Weiss, and when she didn't get an answer, "Jaune!" she called out again, louder this time.

Before either of them could do anything more a deafening roar accompanied by the rhythmic thud of gigantic wings beating nearly overwhelmed them. They both turned to see the Wyvern grimm land on the tower, dozen's of creatures of grimm followed in its wake, blocking the entrance to the tower.

Ruby unfurled her scythe, pointing it at the grimm that were now charging at them, "I have a plan." she said, her voice hard.

"You always do." muttered Weiss.

They both charged at the hordes of grimm, cutting their way through. It would have been a hard fought battle already, but with the Wyvern it was almost impossible. Drips of pure darkness fell from its mouth forming into new grimm, a veritable never ending wave of Grimm.

Despite their best efforts, they made little headway, for every two feet closer they got, they would be pushed back by a foot.

"We've got to hurry!" shouted Ruby after killing off a Beowulf.

Weiss looked up to the tower and quickly summoned her glyphs as they appeared on its side, straight up. "You can do this." she told Ruby encouragingly.

Ruby nodded and with her semblance she dashed to the tower, avoiding the remaining grimm and jumped onto its side. Weiss' glyphs did their job as she stuck to the side of the tower. Ruby concentrated as much energy as she could muster to her legs and she ran up the tower.

 _Don't worry Pyrrha, I'm on my way. I won't let that woman get away with this._

Ruby went as fast as she could, jumping off the last glyph as she reached the top. Landing on a pile of rubble, she looked up only to see Pyrrha on her knees with an arrow sticking out of her chest. Pyrrha's eyes were wide as she gasped for breath that didn't seem to come. She watched as Cinder walked up to Pyrrha, placing a hand on the side of her head almost as if lovingly as Pyrrha was engulfed in a flashed of orange. A gust of wind blew, Ruby's cloak fluttered in the wind, she saw Pyrrha's glowing body break apart as the wind blew away the glowing cinders of what was once Pyrrha Nikos. Her circlet, dropping to the ground with a clang of finality.

 _No_

 _No no no no no no no no_

There was a sudden flash within her mind as she once again saw Penny being shred to pieces by her own weapon. How her limbs contorted in unnatural angles as her waist was crushed and her neck. . .

She was too late.

The scene unfolded as if in slow motion within Ruby's mind. Tears that she thought had dried welled up in her eyes. A familiar pressure built up in her head as the burning heat ignited and spread throughout her entire body. The pressure in her skull now unbearable, reaching her breaking point Ruby screamed.

" **PYRRHAAAA!** "

Then white.

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Ruby sat away from the campfire that they had set up hours earlier. What remained of team JNPR slept as she took first watch.

Ruby wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as a chilly breeze blew in. Dark circles had formed around her eyes, she couldn't, didn't want to sleep because that was when the nightmares came. She thought back to the fall of Beacon. Her heart sank as the painful memories of watching both Penny and Pyrrha die right before her eyes. Those nightmares only making it worse. There was one that she had thought that she had made it in time, just before Pyrrha's attack could connect. But when she looked down at Penny, she was already torn to shreds.

Ruby buried her face in her hands as the tears began to form in her eyes.

 _I'm sorry I couldn't save either of you._

The tears continued to fall and streak down her face.

 _I was too slow to save Penny, and I was too slow to save Pyrrha. My semblance is speed? Ha! What a joke. I was always too slow. Do I really deserve to be a Huntress? Even if I've always been too slow to save my friends?_

Ruby opened her rucksack and pulled out a familiar black and green sword. In the rush of everything that had happened that day she never realized that she had tucked away Penny's sword.

 _Penny._

Ruby's eyes drifted over the sword she held in her hands. The markings etched on to it laid dark and unresponsive, much like Penny had been in her arms.

 _I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I know that no matter how many times I say it won't bring you back._

 _But I promise you, I will never be too slow to save my friends. I have to grow stronger so that the people I care about will never be hurt again._

Ruby brought the sword to her chest, hugging it gently. Trying to ease the aching emptiness within her chest with memories of a happier time, when things were simple. She thought back to when she had first met Penny, it had been strange at first but the more she got to know the redheaded girl the more she enjoyed her company. It wasn't long before she began to get these strange feelings whenever she was with Penny.

Ruby couldn't explain these feelings. Even now she didn't know what they meant. But she did know one thing, Penny would have wanted her to save the world in her stead.

Ruby's resolve hardened as she looked up to the stars.

"I promise, Penny. I will get stronger, and I _will_ stop Cinder and the others. For all our sakes."

 **Author's Notes:** Okay, this was a little oneshot that I really just wanted to get out of my system after watching the Volume 3 Finale. I'm a big fan of Nuts and Dolts and though it does make me a bit sad to write a slight tragedy story of the ship I couldn't get it out of my head. I hope you all enjoyed and were somewhat touched by this. I know that it's not that great compared to the rest of my works since I based it off scenes from canon, but still I did my best to try and convey a lot of feelings in a very past paced season ending.

I also realize that there was a RWBY reddit MonCom about this particular topic, but I didn't know about it at the time but know that I really just wanted to write something to give my ship some closure despite the sudden end of it in canon.

Well that's all I really have to say and as always

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